Translating the Bible is a vexed task
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Translating the Bible is a vexed task
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Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#2Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#3https://archive.ph/iJJ1Z
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Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#4“Traduttore, traditore” (“translator, you traitor!”).
Translating ancient texts is hard enough given the complex historical and cultural contexts. When it comes to religious texts, though, the level of complexity grows exponentially, especially given how their contexts widen.
On an unrelated note, this always vexes me:
> By contrast, the two faiths’ cousin—Christianity
I get how one can see a relation between Judaism and Christianity.
But to add Islam to the mix under the generic label of “Abrahamic religions” seems to be way too much of a stretch, as there’s neither historical nor philosophical continuity.
It’s like saying that everyone who’s heard of the Trojan horse story and perhaps related it to their circle is automatically a member of a “Homeric culture”.
Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#5Regarding “hard choices” when translating: what about not making them?
If the goal isn’t to editorialize on purpose, could one just write, “[young girl|virgin]” when faced with what the “correct” translation is supposed to be?
Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#6“Traduttore, traditore” (“translator, you traitor!”). Translating ancient texts is hard enough given the complex historical and cultural contexts. When it comes to religious texts, though, the level of complexity grows exponentially, especially given how their contexts widen. On an unrelated note, this always vexes me: > By contrast, the two faiths’ cousin—Christianity I get how one can see a relation between Judaism…
It's not a stretch at all. In the same way that the New Testament (Christianity) extends the Old Testament (Judaism), the Koran considers itself a part of the same lineage. Moses, Jesus etc are prophets in Islam, and Jews and Christians are "people of the book" and accorded special protections.
Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#7Regarding “hard choices” when translating: what about not making them? If the goal isn’t to editorialize on purpose, could one just write, “[young girl|virgin]” when faced with what the “correct” translation is supposed to be?
There are some 1500 hapax legomena in the Old Testament, means words that appear only once and, by extension, whose exact meaning is often unknown. How do you translate them?
Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#8“Traduttore, traditore” (“translator, you traitor!”). Translating ancient texts is hard enough given the complex historical and cultural contexts. When it comes to religious texts, though, the level of complexity grows exponentially, especially given how their contexts widen. On an unrelated note, this always vexes me: > By contrast, the two faiths’ cousin—Christianity I get how one can see a relation between Judaism…
It's not a stretch at all. In the same way that the New Testament (Christianity) extends the Old Testament (Judaism), the Koran considers itself a part of the same lineage. Moses, Jesus etc are prophets in Islam, and Jews and Christians are "people of the book" and accorded special protections.
Abraham is considered the first prophet in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam hence Abrahamic.
Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#9Regarding “hard choices” when translating: what about not making them? If the goal isn’t to editorialize on purpose, could one just write, “[young girl|virgin]” when faced with what the “correct” translation is supposed to be?
There are some 1500 hapax legomena in the Old Testament, means words that appear only once and, by extension, whose exact meaning is often unknown. How do you translate them? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapax_legomenon
Ah makes sense. That is indeed vexing.
If we have complete gaps in our knowledge of the language, then there’s no room for anything but editorialization.
Re: Translating the Bible is a vexed task
#10Rather superficial article about the subject. Whole books are written about the subject or why one translation is better than another. (A quick search will find you people telling you not to use the King James translation.) The article does not even touch upon culture things, such like how to deal with a translation for a culture where pigs are kept as pets or cattle, while in the old testament they are considered as unclean animals. It also does not mention that there is not one Greek text upon which the new testament is based, but that there are many variants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_variants_in_the_New_Te...